With guitarist Andrew Neufeld still acting as Scott Wade’s replacement, Comeback Kid’s fourth album is another steady assault of screaming hardcore. Symptoms + Cures finds the Canadian punk-metal troupe focusing on brute force and hits the ground running in a quick, spirited rock-out session. The album is polished and pure, but a touch heavier than prior outings, with Neufeld’s raspy vocals howling like a turbine engine as the rest of the band (Hiebert, Hjelmberg, Keil, and Profetta) blaze furiously through 11 songs. Along with occasional gang yells, spit-filled vocal cameos include A Wilhelm Scream’s Nuno Pereira (“The Concept Stays”), Cancer Bats ’ Liam Cormier (“Balance”), and Architects’ Sam Carter (“Pull Back the Reins”). Even with the variety, the album doesn’t change gear or break stride: it’s continually harsh and urgent, with the occasional melody thrown in for good measure.

After a self-released cassette that alluded to songwriter/producer Richard Rebarber's visionary musical talents, his Floating Opera project returned in late 1996 with this full-length album for -ismist Recordings. Not that much has changed for Rebarber in those years; he's still a craftsman focused on near orchestral pop/rock that is slightly challenging and always poetic. Yet here he enlists Lori Allison (Millions) and Heidi Ore (Mercy Rule) to handle the vocal duties, a choice that propels his songs into ethereal territory -- these are two exceptionally talented vocalists with an absolutely heavenly grasp of the material's literate lyrics. In addition to these stunning vocals, the somewhat subdued ensemble musicianship complements perfectly, serving as an inspired foundation for the two ladies to sing over. Not too accessible, even if it is genius songwriting, this album should impress anyone looking for sophisticated pop music with a near orchestral sense of instrumentation (for an example, look to the inventive cover of Hüsker Dü's "Makes No Sense at All").

If Rebarber was a New York or Los Angeles resident rather than a Nebraskan, there's a good chance you'd be much more familiar with his name than you are now. Furthermore, due to the infrequency of the Floating Opera releases, this album takes on a much greater value in retrospect.